MIAMI GARDENS ― Malik Willis is heading into the Miami Dolphins’ season opener at the Las Vegas Raiders with a mindset that sounds refreshingly uncomplicated.
“Just go out there and have as much fun as possible,” Willis said. “I mean, this is an opportunity of a lifetime, bro.
Not many people get to play and start football games in the National Football League. I just want to go out there and have some fun.”
That’s the tone Willis has carried into a week that will bring a first for him: his first career start in a season opener. The 27-year-old has six starts across four seasons, split evenly between Green Bay and Tennessee, but this one comes with a different kind of backdrop. He’ll be working with a roster that could feature up to three rookie receivers, two rookie tight ends, a rookie guard and a rookie fullback against Las Vegas.
For Willis, the answer to that kind of inexperience is simple: keep stacking reps and keep the process clean.
“Just taking it one play at a time, making sure we're prepared before we even get there, and that's the main thing,” Willis said. “Each one got to prepare. So when the game comes, it's a lot easier as far as mental gymnastics and hoops that you have to go through to execute a play.
“I mean, we'll get, I don't know how many reps. We've got 80 reps today.
We'll continue to just build and get those reps, mental reps, and just continue to learn and get better. Obviously, there's going to be mistakes, but if we can learn from those mistakes, in the long run, we'll be better off.”
That steady approach has been a welcome one for Miami. Willis hasn’t turned the podium into a drama factory, and he hasn’t tried to talk his way into the spotlight. He comes across as a let-his-play-do-the-talking type, and that’s exactly how he sounds when the subject turns to the opener.
“I’m going to just try to take advantage of the opportunity,” Willis said.
The challenge for him is finding the line between protecting the football and still pushing the ball when the moment calls for it. He’ll be the one making the decisions, the point guard in charge of when to take the safe throw and when to chase something bigger.
His answer to that balancing act was as direct as everything else.
“I mean, if you're going out there thinking about mistakes, you are in the hole already,” Willis said. “You can't go out there thinking about mistakes.
You've got to go out there and play ball. Mistakes will happen.
I mean, they get paid too. The defense is going to make a play.
We just got to go play ball and be aggressive doing that.
“Obviously, situationally, it's how aggressive can we be? Sometimes it's aggressively hitting the check down.
You aggressively got it there fast enough where he can transition and get extra yards. It's just a mentality of being convicted in what we're doing, and that comes from the preparation.”
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